Two Minutes Later, the Wheels of Fate Would Quietly Begin to Turn!

A junior editor in the Daily Telegraph office saw the message and reported it to the editor-in-chief.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the editor-in-chief immediately found the interview video of Tang Long after the UEFA Champions League match between Tang Long and Juventus, extracted the Chinese section, and repeatedly tested it using translation software.

This ultimately confirmed the reader's statement.

"Useless? You always say it's useless, and you always act like your father!"

The editor-in-chief was a bald, red-faced man who looked like he hadn't sobered up after drinking.

He was so angry his mouth was crooked! He looked like he'd had a stroke!

In the conference room, in front of everyone, he punched and smashed through the laptop screen in front of him.

As everyone stared at the dark computer screen, a fist suddenly shot through it, accompanied by hissing smoke.

"Damn it, we've all been tricked by this China kid!"

"Everyone, put down everything you're doing and watch this Manchester City vs. Aston Villa match. Find fault with it, find it really bad!"

"Let this arrogant China man experience the power of public opinion, and see who's really in charge!"

Editors from all walks of life gathered in the conference room, each with a laptop in hand, their eyes glued to the screen, their hands on the keyboard, ready to type at any moment.

They understood that their boss wanted them to nitpick and use every angle and means to slander Tang Long!

"Don't worry, boss, I graduated from University of Cambridge with a legitimate journalism degree, this is my specialty!"

"I'm not good at writing serious reports, but fabricating stories and spreading rumors are my forte!"

"Don't worry, boss. With my hands, I can make up anything—black becomes white, tall becomes short, beautiful becomes ugly! I can just make it all up!"

"I wrote some terrible novels when I was in college, so I'm definitely good at making up stories!"

Having just endured a tough midweek match against Juventus, Pellegrini made several personnel changes for this Premier League game.

Sure enough, Bony's guess was right!

He replaced Agüero in the starting lineup.

The two defensive midfielders, Fernando and Delph, are also partnering together for the first time this season.

In defense, Chris regularly rotated Kolarov, Otamendi replaced Kompany, and partnered with Ranocchia.

It's worth noting that substitute goalkeeper Caballero, number 2, actually started!

Having been relegated to the background three times, has Joe Hart lost the coach's trust? Only time will tell.

Center circle.

Bony and Sterling are preparing to kick off.

Bony had one foot on the ball, but his gaze was fixed on Tang Long, who was sitting on the bench.

He was both excited and anxious about this first start.

What excites him is that he still has the opportunity to start in the Premier League, especially against a weaker team like Aston Villa, which presents him with a chance to showcase his skills.

What made him nervous was that Tang Long had also been rotated out.

"A diagonal run, that's all it takes! That's what Tang told me, but if he doesn't play, can Silva coordinate with me in the attacking midfield position?" Bony kicked the ball out, glanced at Silva behind him, and then got back into the game.

After receiving a pass back from Sterling, Silva deliberately showed off his skills when facing Villa striker Ayew came to press him;

Instead of passing back to the defensive midfielder Delph, he used his feet to execute a quick turn and sweep past Ayew.

Hearing the applause coming from the stands at the Etihad Stadium, Silva was full of confidence for the match.

"Although I also played as an attacking midfielder in the last game, Tang, the defensive midfielder, stole the spotlight. In this game, while he's off the field, I'm determined to show my skills and provide Bony with a few assists!"

That's what Silva thought, and that's exactly what he did.

However, the Spain midfielder and the Ivory Coast striker never really clicked.

In the 13th minute of the first half, Manchester City had a good chance after making 15 consecutive passes.

After receiving the ball Silva astutely spotted an opening inside the penalty area;

He glanced at Bony, then sent a through ball.

Unfortunately, the two didn't even make eye contact; Silva pushed to the left, while Bony ran towards the middle.

The ball eventually rolled out of bounds, giving the opponent a goal kick for nothing.

"What are you doing? Of course you should run to places with fewer people!"

Hearing the fans' sighs of regret, Silva was also filled with frustration and immediately blamed Bony.

After all, such a brilliant pass, if I could provide an assist in the end, would definitely be the most eye-catching part of this attack, and would greatly earn me points in the head coach's eyes!

Bony gestured to Silva to turn.

"David, go around it! Let the ball skim along the ground, and I'll be one-on-one with the goalkeeper in the middle!"

What Bony was referring to was his diagonal run, followed by a Low-trajectory Curve Shot that curved past both center-backs and connected with him.

This tactic is particularly effective when used after the ball has been passed around in midfield, causing the opponent's formation to be stretched out of control.

After Tang Long's Bony outburst, Tang Long accompanied him on a drive back to the training ground, where they practiced for an extra hour, focusing on this very move!

In the following days, the two would practice for an extra hour after their regular training session.

Under Tang Long's guidance, Bony felt he was doing quite well.

Therefore, during this series of passes, Bony saw an opening and subconsciously reacted with a diagonal cut.

"Are you kidding me, Bony? How could I possibly pass a ground arc over such a short distance? Do you think this is a video game?!"

Silva listened to Bony's explanation with disbelief, thinking the kid was simply delusional.

Someone like you, playing professionally?

On the bench, Agüero, sitting next to Tang Long, said to him:

"There are too many players in the mid lane. Bony should have listened to Silva and moved to the wing. Sigh, this guy still doesn't know how to position himself!"

Tang Long remained silent, neither confirming nor denying.

He felt Bony's positioning was correct; the key was whether the passer could actually make the pass.

Silva's footwork may be fine, but his thinking and actual anticipation were a bit lacking!

Seeing this, the Daily Telegraph reporter, who had been thwarted by Tang Long, quickly filed a breaking news report.

[An outrageous mistake! Agüero is the decisive player for Manchester City; without him, Manchester City can't score!]

Bony is an important lone striker in Pellegrini's 4-2-3-1 formation.

His inability to connect with attacking midfielder Silva caused Manchester City's attack to lose its chance to create good opportunities in the penalty area at the last link.

Navas on the right wing did send in a few high balls, and the placement was quite good;

Sterling on the left wing also utilized his speed and dribbling skills.

But Bony either headed too high or failed to get a single point.

In particular, former Manchester City captain Richards and Bony were locked in a fierce battle in the Villa penalty area.

The two men were of similar build, both large, black men, and they started pulling and shoving each other, neither willing to give in.

Fortunately, Aston Villa's performance was also quite poor.

Villa means villa in English.

Although the team's name sounds nice, there's a reason why they're currently at the bottom of the Premier League standings.

Their attack was terrible; they only managed four shots in the first half, none of which hit the woodwork.

Caballero can go for a walk now.

The score remained 0-0 until halftime.

The Daily Telegraph releases another breaking news report:

[Manchester City, without Agüero, couldn't even break through Aston Villa's defense; a boring first half!]

Is this really a match between the bottom two teams in the Premier League?

Manchester City can do without anyone, but they can't do without Agüero!

The Daily Telegraph reporters deliberately exaggerated Agüero's importance;

It was all to belittle all the other Manchester City players, including Tang Long.

However, they seem to have forgotten that although Agüero didn't play, Tang Long was on the bench.

Aren't you afraid he'll go on stage and slap you in the face again?

But amidst the editor-in-chief's furious cursing, these editors didn't care anymore. They were all getting paid anyway. If you want me to criticize, then I'll continue criticizing. Innuendo is easy; anyone can type a few words on a keyboard!

However, Pellegrini was generally satisfied with the team's performance in the first half.

After all, too many players were rotated in this match.

They did a decent job defensively at least. If they can step up their game in the second half and score one or two goals, they can easily win the game, which is within the plan.

Pellegrini had planned before the match that if they failed to score in the first half, he would bring Tang Long on in the 60th minute.

If no goal is scored within 10 minutes, Agüero will be substituted to replace Bony.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Bony still hadn't scored.

His and Silva's thinking never aligns!

This isn't really Silva's fault, given how few games he's played for Manchester City, and how he's primarily played on the wings and hasn't been playing as an attacking midfielder much lately.

Although Silva really enjoys playing in the position he started playing when he first arrived at Manchester City, his partnership with Bony still seems a bit raw.

In the 60th minute, Tang Long came on as a substitute as planned.

Silva walked down dejectedly and gave Tang Long a lukewarm, light hug.

As he walked toward the bench, he even kicked the water tank hard, clearly very unhappy about being substituted.

He complained to Agüero in Spain, "I played really well, why were I substituted?"

Agüero replied smugly, "Isn't it because I'm not here? If I were in Bony's position, you would have already scored a hat-trick of assists. Hehe, you passer, you're just unlucky to have this African guy on your hands!"

Agüero glanced up at the clock on the Etihad Stadium again.

The time has quietly reached 63 minutes.

Pellagrini had informed Agüero before the match, so Aguero was aware of the coach's substitutions.

Agüero sighed, "Bony, it's not that I'm trying to take your starting position, but you're just not good enough at center forward. Even if I gave you Tang Long, I reckon you still wouldn't score, let alone in the last 7 minutes, or even if I gave you 80 minutes!"

This is the confidence of a key striker for both the Argentina national team and Manchester City.

With that in mind, Agüero not to sit still and started warming up.

Pull back, sprint, move your ankles.

He knew that once 70 minutes were up, he would be going on the field.

Although Agüero was almost cramping up from the midweek game against Juventus, he thought that with the Manchester Derby coming up this weekend, he could take this opportunity to warm up, play against the minnows Agüero, and score a goal or two as a warm-up for the derby.

Pellegrini thought so too, and when he saw Agüero get up to warm up, he nodded approvingly.

It seems that neither Bony nor Iheanacho can shake Agüero's absolute starting position at Manchester City.

"Bony couldn't even score against the Aston Villa. He had some good performances before, but it was probably just a flash in the pan. This can't go on. We should sell him in the winter transfer window and bring in a center forward who is at least as good as Dzeko. After all, we can't rely too much on Agüero when we're competing on multiple fronts."

While Agüero was warming up on the sidelines.

The fans at the Etihad Stadium erupted in cheers!

They were chanting the name of the stadium's number 10 hero.

"Sergio, come on the field, Sergio!"

"Go on the field and score a goal against him!"

"Sergio, the eternal hero, leads us to victory!"

The Daily Telegraph published another article:

[Tang has been on the pitch for four minutes, but Manchester City's attack still hasn't improved. This Manchester City team can do without anyone, but they absolutely cannot do without Agüero!]

[Dom is merely a supporting player; without Agüero, his contribution to the attack is zero!]

We always overemphasize the importance of an attacking midfielder while ignoring who ultimately delivers the decisive blow!

From players to coaches, to fans, and finally to the media that fanned the flames.

Everyone believes that Manchester City won't score if Agüero isn't on the pitch;

Even if Tang Long came up, it would be useless if he teamed up with Bony!

Even though they had just reversed the powerful Juventus midweek thanks to Tang Long's god-like performance;

But we must not forget that half of Manchester City's four goals came from their star striker, Argentina forward Sergio Agüero!

He was the player who scored the most goals in that match!

At this time.

Having played most of the game, Bony's concentration began to wane.

Although he tried his best to run diagonally into position after Tang Long came on, following the route the two had simulated in training;

However, Tang Long had not yet found a good opportunity and did not force it.

"Am I just going to waste this starting lineup?"

After Tang Long failed to deliver another through pass, Bony rested his hands on his knees, his eyes filled with confusion.

After his second start of the season, the initial elation began to fade, and he started to doubt himself.

He even felt that even if a through ball was played later, he wouldn't have the stamina to catch up;

Not to mention, Bony had already spotted Agüero warming up on the sidelines!

However, what Bony didn't know was...

Just two minutes later, the gears of his fate changed.

In this match, Bony not only delivered the most brilliant performance of his eight-year professional career, but also shook the Premier League world;

This completely changed his status in Pellegrini's eyes, and even threatened the position of the undisputed starting striker Agüero!

(4000 words today. The author wants to rest for a day and go to bed early. Thank you!)